Automatic coupling for brake-pipes.



PATENTED 00122. 19 7.

k 0. A. MARSHALL. AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR BRAKE PIPES. I

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS PATENTED OUT. 22. 1907.

G. A. MARSHALL. AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR BRAKE PIPES.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 3, 1907.

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INVENTOH MI a ATTORNEYS PATENTED 001?. 22. 1907.

No. 869,003. I

c. A. MARSHALL. AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR BRAKE PIPES.

APPLIOATION FILED APB. 3, 1907.

WITNESSES I M PATENTED OCT. '22. 1907, A

G. A. MARSHALL. AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR BRAKE PIPES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3, 1907.

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W/TNESSES' CHARLES ALBERT MARSHALL, OF TULSA, INDIAN TERRITORY.

AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR BRAKE-PIPES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedOct. 22', 1907.

Application filed April 3, 1907. Serial No. 866,139.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ALBERT MARSHALL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Tulsa, in the Creek Nation, Indian Territory,have invented a new and Improved Automatic Coupler for Air-Brake Pipes,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved automaticcoupler for air brake pipes, arranged to automatically connect the airbrake pipes of railroad cars while in the act of coupling the cars, andto form a continuous passage for the flow of the compressed air fiom onecar to another, without danger of leakage.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations ofthe same, which will be morefully described hereinafter and then pointedout in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improvement as applied to twocoupled railroad cars, parts of the latter being in section; Fig. 2 is atransverse section of the line 33 of Fig. 9; Fig.- 4 is a rear sectionalside'elevation of thecontrollin'g valve, the section being on the line44 of Fig. 8; Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of the couplingsupport, the section being on the line 55 of Figs. 3 and 6; Fig. 6 is atransverse section of the same on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is anenlarged end view of the improvement as applied; Fig. 8 is an enlargedcross section of the same on the line 88 of Fig. 1; Fig. 9 is aplan viewof the improvement; Fig. 10 is a plan view of the controlling valve, theactuating receiver of which is shown in section on the line 1010 of Fig.3; and Figs. 11, 12 and 13 are sectional plan views oithe controllingvalve in different positions.

The couplers A and A are alike in construction and yieldingly connectedwith the train pipes B, B of the Westinghouse or other fluid air brakesystem attached to the underside of the car bodies of the cars C and Cto be coupled together, and each of the said air brake, pipe couplers A,A is supported by a support or bracket D attached to the spring plank Cof the brake of the corresponding car 0 or C, the arrangement being suchthat the-air brake pipe couplers A and A are located directly below theusual car coupler and extend in vertical planes passing lengthwisethrough the middle of the trucks and a predetermined distance above thetrack rails or wheel base sothat the couplers A, A are at all times at apermanent or standard height above the track rails, to insure an easy,accurate and uniform coupling of the air brake couplers A and A ondifferent cars irrespective of the load and shape of the car body..

Each'coupler A and A is provided with air-pipe sections E and F, ofwhich the pipe section F has an airtight joint with and telescopes inthepipe-section E, and the rear end of the latter terminates in an upwardlyextending tubular pivot E engaging a tubular bearing B on thecorresponding end of the train pipe B or B, thus forming a swivelconnection between the pipes E and B (or B), to allow lateral as well asup and down movement of the pipe B or B relative to the correspondingpipe E of the couplers A and A.

The forward end of each pipe section F extends be-' yond the buffer ofthe corresponding car C or C, and the said forward end i's'provided witha coupling head G adapted to engage the corresponding coupling headpacking-or mouth piece F when the other coupler and the cars cometogether.-

On.the forward end of the pipe section E iss ecured a cylindrical casingH through which extends a portion of the pipe sectionF (see Fig. 3), andwithin the said casing H and coiled around the pipe section F is aspring H resting with its rear end on the forward end of the pipesection E and pressing with its forward end on a shoulder or collar F?formed on the pipe section F within thecasing H. The shoulder F? isadapted to abut against the head H of the casing'H tolimit the forwardmovement of the pipe section F. i By the arrangement described thespring H normally holds the pipe section F in an outermost position,andwhen the two carsC and C are coupled together and then thepipe-sections F slide inward in the pipe sec-.

tions E against the tension of the springs H, so that an i exceedinglyfirm joint is had between the coupling heads G, especially as thepackings F abut against each other and are held in firm contact by theaction of the compressed springs H. Thus by the arrangement described acontinuous passage is formed for the fiow of the compressed air from onecar to another, without danger of leakage.

At or near the rear end of each pipe-section E is arranged a controllingvalve I having a vertically disposed plug valve- I (see Figs. 11, 12 and-l3), the stem of which is provided with a lever ..I made hollow andcontaining a rod K terminating at its inner end in a vertical offset Kextending through an elongated slot J formed in the top of the lever J.The offset K is con nected by a link L with the forward end of thepipesection Fand the rod K is pressed on withinthe lever -.l' by aspring J to normally hold the rod K in an innermost position, that is,with the offset K pearthe stem of the plug valve I. Now when the twocars G and G are coupled together and the pipe sections 'F are caused toslide rearward, as previously explained, then each link L imparts aswinging motion tothe corresponding lever J, so as to turn the plugvalve I into the open position shown in Fig. 13, to insure a continuousflow of the compressed air through the pipe-section E. The swingingmotion oi the lever .l is limited by stops N and N held on top of thecontrolling vvalve '1.

Now from the foregoing -it will be seen that when a couple) her A isinan uncoupled position the plug valve I is open, as illustrated in Fig.11, to hold the fluid pressure brake in a set position, and whentheposition, as 'dhOlfll in Fig. 11, whereby the air can sscaps from thetrain pipe, to cause setting of the "bra'kes with-a view to bring thebroken sections-of the train to a'stslndstill.

In certain'operations such asswitc'hing, "making up trains, etc it isdesirable that't'he brakes "bereleased and so retained as 'long asnecessary, and for this purpose the following arrangement is. made, witha view.

to hold the valve plug 1 in the closed position illustrated in llig. 12:Oh the pipe-section E is secured a tramsversely-extendingbracket-O- onwhich is'fulcrumed a vertically disposed lever P provided witha latch Ppressed on by a-spring P to-normally hold the latch in an uppermostposition-and the path of the lever 1 whenever the {lever Bis swung intoa-vertical position. For theipurpose described the upper and lower endsof the lever P (see Fig. 2) are pivotally connected by transverselyextending links Q'and Q with hand levers R, R. iulcrumed-on the car bodyof the car 0 or Q at or near the sides thereof, so as to be withinconvenient reach of the operator. The latch P is rounded off atilzs-iorward-edge, as plainly indicated in Fig. 4, so as to readilyyield to backward pressure when the lever J swingsifirom its front to ;arearmost position, but when the lever l? is moved into a verticalposition and the lever ibis in a rearmost position'afterthe cars arecoupled and the cars are .then uncoupled, then the outward movementofthe section F is not completed, as the lever [I in swinging from itsrearrnost to a forward position'strikes the latch P and is held by thesame in'an intermediate position (see Fig. 12) with the plug valve 1held closed, sothat air cannot escape from the train pipe/andconsequently the brakes are not applied or set. When it is desired toapply't'he brakes it is only necessai-y for the operator-to pulleither-on'the' lever R 'in' an outward direclaion, so-as to impart aswinging motion to the lever -P, witha view to shove the latch P out ofengagernent with the'lever 3, to permit the spring H to move the pipesection F outward to its'lull extent, so

that the'lever J is swung to its forward position shown in Fig. 11, andthe plug valve 1 is opened toallow the escape of air and setting of thebrakes fshock whenthe pipe section F moves inward in the pipe section Eagainst the tension'of the spring H. The member D is bolted or otherwisesecured to the spring plank-O of the car truck'previously'referred'to.The members TD and D? are connected with each other by a connecting barD extending with its upper end into the recessedlower end of the memberDand pivotally connected at its lower end with a socket in the upper endof the member D A spring S is coiled around the bar D and rests with itslower end on a collar D formed on the bar D and'the upper end of'thesaid spring S abuts against a pin D held on the member D and extendingthrough an elongated slot D in'the bar D Springs T, T in the socket'ofthe-member I!) press opposite sides of the member D to normally supportthe latter in a vertical position, but to allow a trans: verse rockingthereof when acar goes around a. curve, thespring'S serving to allow anup and down yielding of thejmembers D, D in case oi the car travelingover an uneven road bed. Thus by the arrangement described the'support Dis free to yield both in an up and down and transverse direction, butnormally the sup:

port D holds the corresponding coupler A or A" in the normal'standardpositionreferred to. i

The detail constriiction of the automatic coupler described-can bevaried without deviating from the spirit of'the invention. Although Ihave shown and described the device for coupling-air brake pipes, it isevident that I do not limit myself tothis particular use of the'device,as the lattercan be used for coupling pipes for the passage of otherfluids, such as steam, gas and the like.

' Having thus described my invention, I claim asnew and desire to secureby Letters, Patent:

1. In 'a coupler for an air brnke pipe, in combination,

telescoping pipe sections having an sir-tight joint,'. a

coupling head on one of the sections, a. valve on one of the sectionsadapted to be operated by the movement of the other section, and meansto open the valve when the pipe is uncoupled.

' 2. In a coupler, in combination, pipe sections havlng'a tight Llolntand adapted to yieldingly telescope-or move longitudinally one withinthe other, a coupling head on one 'of the saldsections, and a valve onone of the sections,

adapted to be opened by the movement of the other sec- L t'ion 'when thepipe is coupled-or uncoupled.

3. In a coupler, in comblnation, pipe sections adapted to yleldinglytelescope, a coupling-head for one of the sections, a valve ln onebf thesections adapted to be opened by movement of the other section when thecars are con-- pied, a latch adapted to engage the valve-lever andretain the valve in closed position when the cars are uncoupled, andmeans to disengage the latch and allow the valveto open. v

.4. In a couplerj-in combination, pipe sections adapted to yle'ldlnglytelescope, a coupling-head on one of the seca. In a coupler, incombination, pipe sections adapted to yieldingly telescope, a prongedcoupling-head on one of the sections, a valve in one of the sections,adapted to be opened by movement of'the other section, and means toretain the valve in closed position when desired.-

6. In a coupler for on air brake pipe, in combination, telescopingair-pipe sections having an air-tight joint, '9. coupling head on one ofthe sections, a valve in one of the sections, a rod connecting the valvelever with the other sections, and a yielding connection between the rodand the valve lever..

7. In an air brake pipe coupling, in combination, telescoping air-pipesections having an air-tight joint, :1 spring connection between -thesections, a coupler head on one of the sections, and a valve in one ofthe sections adapted to be openedwhen the sections are forced togetherby the act'of coupling, and also to be opened by the movement of thesections, due to the spring, when the cars are uncoupled.

, In,testimony;whereot I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

'- CHARLES ALBERT MARSHALL.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH KOSTACHEK, HENRY C. CALHoUn.

